Producers of Joint Effort covered their label in references to marijuana and made their pull handles out of bongs.

Marijuana’s legalization in Colorado and Washington has led to a boom market of growers, sellers and investors seeking to cash in as the long-illicit drug goes legit. And then there’s the ancillary market. Cannabis swag has been flourishing in each state, with the leaf appearing on everything from throw pillows to key fobs. So it should come as little surprise that breweries are riding the green wave.

As Washington processes its first applications for pot-related business licenses, local store shelves are being stocked with 22 oz. bottles of Joint Effort, a hemp beer crafted by two local breweries to evoke the aroma of weed. The name is a double entendre about their collaboration and the drug that was legalized there last November. It’s also part of the reason that the brew can be sold only in the Evergreen State.

Beer brewed with hemp, a botanical cousin to hops, can be (and has been) sold elsewhere in the U.S., so long as it tests negative for mind-altering THC. But a hemp brew’s label can’t contain any slang or graphics “implying or referencing the presence of … marijuana” if it’s going to be approved by the federal government for sales across state lines. Joint Effort, made by Redhook Ale Brewery and Hilliard’s Beer, is decorated with the tag line “a dubious collaboration between two buds.” And those puns, a company spokesman says, were enough for the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau to reject their label application. That left the brewers to sell their resiny ale at home, where the state liquor board approved.

The beer’s presence in bars makes the labels seem subtle by comparison. Pull handles that barkeeps yank to serve drafts of the brew are made out of actual bongs, purchased straight from local head shops. “We’re taking the whole passage of the law and celebrating the fact that we can do something legally that other states can’t,” says Matt Licklider, Redhook’s senior director of brewing and quality. Yes, they could sell their THC-free beer in other places if they toned down the look, but that would defeat the point, he says.

Joint Effort was first sold on tap in July 2013, with bottles following in late October. So far, it’s available at 85 locations, including stores such as Safeway and restaurants like Red Robin. Redhook brand manager Karmen Olson says they plan to sell it through March 2014 and may extend the run if there’s popular demand.

Though Redhook is now part of the larger Craft Brew Alliance, both that brewery and Hilliard’s were founded in Washington. The two companies were brainstorming on ways to collaborate soon after Initiative 502 passed in November 2012. Throwing ideas around over beers, they decided an ode to marijuana was in order. It certainly didn’t hurt to capitalize on the buzz of passing historic legislation either. The 22 oz. bottles are being sold at a price only novelty could justify: $3.99 to $5.99 a piece.

This isn’t the first time Redhook has run a campaign to “acknowledge that we live in a cool progressive state where stuff like this happens,” as Olson says. Last November, voters also passed a referendum that made gay marriage legal. The company, which sells a Long Hammer IPA, put out a celebratory ad with a giant equals sign. “Redhook supports equality,” it read. “Because two Long Hammers are better than one.”

As with last year, and the year before that, Halloween this year was another great night of fun with kids and candy, and as always, the adults loved the beer. Candy, I give away a lot of it, I mean A LOT, but it’s for the kids and they love it!!!

Pizza

My family comes over and we have pizza before the evening of kids comes trick-or-treating to our door. I forgot to get a picture of the pizza before everyone started eating.

The setup

I had about 120 kids stop by and went through all of the candy as well as about two and a half cases of beers. It’s fun watching the adults decide which beer they’re going to try. This year’s Sam Adams sampler pack had Har­vest Pump­kin Ale, Ruby Mild, Hazel Brown, Octo­ber­fest (which I also had a case of), Lat­i­tude 48 IPA, and Boston Lager. The Harpoon sampler had Octoberfest, Rich and Dan’s Rye IPA, IPA, and UFO Pumpkin. I also had four packs and six packs of Shipyard Pumpkinhead, Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin Ale, Dogfish Head Punkin Ale, Schlafly Pumpkin Ale, and a growler of Ellicott Mills Brewing Company Sleepy Hollow Pumpkin Ale.

Me getting a beer!!!

This year, for the first time ever (I have been doing this for about 10 years), someone brought me a beer. I had a woodchuck pumpkin. It tasted a lot like the inside of a pumpkin, not really my kinda beer, but I was happy to get one I haven’t tried!!

Charlie Brown was once again shown on my garage.

I bring up my projector and put It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown on my garage door. A lot of the kids end up hanging around for 10-15 minutes watching while their parents have a beer.

Too many choices.

I give away lots of candy every year with a slight twist. There is a game I have all the kids play where they reach into a bag and pull out a poker chip. Most of the chips are white (and I change the odds as needed), but if they pull out the black chip they win an entire sleeve of candy. This year I had a bunch of halloween themed toys, too, and they were a big hit.

Showing the young ones how to grab a handful of candy.

What was your setup like this year? Does anyone else give out beer or do prizes?

There’s a new brew in town that claims to be the strongest beer in the world.

Snake Venom –the latest creation from Scottish-based Brewmeister – has concocted a beer with a whopping 67.5 percent ABV, beating out the former title holder Armageddon made by the same brewery at 65 percent ABV.

Brewers Lewis Shand and John McKenzie told Scotland’s Daily Record that they created Snake Venom after customers said that Armageddon was “too weak.”

“Some even said they didn’t believe it was 65 percent, so this time we thought we’d go full out. We were too nice last time,” said Lewis.

They said the beer took nine months to develop and was brewed with smoked peat malt and two varieties of yeast, one beer and one Champagne. Like other beers that have pushed ABV boundaries, they used a technique where they freeze during the fermentation process – sometimes several times.

Snake Venom is the latest beer in which brewers try to outdo each other by creating stronger and stronger beers.

Scotland’s Brewdog first produced Tactical Nuclear Penguin at 32 percent ABV. German-based Schorsbrau retaliated by releasing Schorschbock at 40 percent, followed by Brewdog releasing Sink the Bismarck at 41 percent, and it went from there.

Presenting Fantastical Fictive Beers, for when only a fictional brew will do. Can you not get enough of that wonderful Duff? Want to crack a Girlie Girl with Al Bundy? Or maybe you need a Butterbeer to help you cope with the fact that a noseless wizard is always trying to kill you? Whatever your quaff, kick back and enjoy this scrupulously illustrated selection of 71 beers from some of the greatest movies, books, and TV shows ever…and, okay, even a few of the not-so-greatest.